1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an article transport and storage apparatus and, more specifically, to apparatus for storing and transporting circular articles, such as vehicle steering wheels, from the manufacturing facility to the installation plant.
2. Description of the Art
Storage racks are used to store articles, such as steering wheels, in the manufacturing plant and for transporting the articles to the installation plant to make to steering wheels available in an easily accessible position adjacent to the production line for installation in a vehicle.
One steering wheel storage rack utilizes a number of vertical spindles in a container which store the steering wheels in vertical stacks through the center hole in each steering wheel. This type of steering wheel storage apparatus has been obsolete due to the trend toward integrated assemblies in which the air bag and steering wheel are integrated into an assembly in the steering wheel manufacturing plant and shipped to the installation plant in a single assembly operation.
Another steering wheel storage rack employs a metal frame with a plurality of vertically arranged, pivotal shelves. Each shelf supports two pairs of spaced, article support members formed of molded urethane foam or E.V.A. with spaced notches sized to receive a peripheral portion of each steering wheel. The notches are offset in two article support members to nest each steering wheel in each row vertically between portions of steering wheels in adjacent top and bottom rows.
Another steering wheel rack utilizes a square wood stud with four notched racks of cellular polyethylene mounted by means of adhesive on the four sides of the stud. The ends of the racks are mounted in supports attached to the inner sides of a container in a vertically and horizontally spaced matrix arrangement of rows and layers. The notches in the racks are offset from end to end to nest the steering wheels in horizontal rows.
It would be desirable to provide further improvements to article storage apparatus, such as storage apparatus devised for storing and transporting steering wheels from a steering wheel manufacturing facility to the installation plant. It would be desirable to provide an article storage apparatus in which the articles are arranged in horizontal and vertical rows and are nested in two dimensions, i.e., horizontally and vertically, to increase the number of articles which can be stored in a single container. It would also be desirable to provide such an article storage apparatus which is constructed of a minimal amount number of different components. It would also be desirable to provide such an article storage apparatus which is durable for long term reuse. It would also be desirable to provide such an article storage apparatus in which the article storage racks are formed of a material resistant to dirt while at the same time being compatible with a Class A article surface. Finally, it would be desirable to provide such an article storage apparatus in which vertical rows of articles are supported on underlying rows without attachment to the container.